Rockford's lack of sidewalks on East State Street and elsewhere in the city is embarrassing.

It's a problem that has existed for years because of poor planning, poor leadership, government bureaucracy and the belief that it's better to do things cheap rather than right.

In 2007, the Rockford Area Transportation Study (now RMAP) advised building nearly 228 miles of sidewalks and 425 miles of bicycle and pedestrian paths and on-street bike lanes throughout the Rock River Valley.

The price: $48 million.

Some of those sidewalks, paths and bike lanes have been completed in the six years since. However, there still are far too many gaps in the pedestrian system.

It would have been less expensive to properly build sidewalks as businesses and residential areas were built. That's the strategy today, but it will take years to undo the mistakes of the past.

We have a better idea: How about sending a federal representative to the funeral of the Chinese man who was run over last week? Maybe that will expedite the process.

Remember the homeless: A few weeks ago, when we decided to write a story about Randy Wells, we had one goal: to keep Wells's memory from disappearing into the ether, as so often happens when one of the community's less-fortunate residents dies.

That Wells took his own life, by jumping from the Jefferson Street bridge in downtown Rockford, gave us pause because we don't typically report suicides. Wells's case was different, however, because of the very public nature of his death.

Mostly, though, we just wanted to paint a word picture of a man who was widely recognized by habitués of downtown Rockford but whom no one really knew.

The story, by reporter Brian Leaf, was nicely crafted. Still, we were flabbergasted by the response to the piece, which rocketed through cyberspace, generating tens of thousands of page views and leaving countless digital footprints.

Was interest in the story driven by morbid curiosity? Or was some nobler impulse at work?

The question was answered Friday, when 125 people attended a memorial service for 60 people who died here this year who at some time in their lives had been homeless - people who, like Randy Wells, are among those the Scriptures call the "least of these."

Page 2 of 2 - One hundred twenty-five people don't brave the kind of weather we had Friday out of curiosity.

They do it because they care.

Hold politicians accountable: We've written a few times about the push for redistricting reform and have supported the efforts of Yes for Independent Maps to get a Fair Map Amendment on the 2014 ballot. For most people, supporting the amendment means signing a petition, but if you want to do more, you can visit our friends at Reboot Illinois.

You can volunteer to circulate petitions - about 300,000 signatures are required - you can donate or you can click on a couple of other options. Go to RebootIllinois.com to learn more.

The political system is rigged to protect those in power. Those in power draw political districts to favor themselves. They choose the voters who are most likely to vote for them. Voters give up because they really have no choice. Last year, for instance, 97 percent of incumbents in the Illinois House won their elections; two-thirds of them ran unopposed.

No matter how much we cry for change, the same people keep getting elected and keep giving us the same fouled-up government.